Jan 24, 2017 7 min read

Trinity took a solid first-quarter effort by outscoring McKeesport 15-8 to go on to hand the Tigers their lone section loss of the season, 56-48, in a Class 5-A Section 1 matchup at Hiller Hall Tuesday night.

McKeesport (7-1, 11-3) cut the deficit to only one point after outscoring the Hillers 16-10 in the third quarter, but failed to stop them after allowing 20 fourth-quarter points.

The Tigers featured two players reaching double-digits as Laquan Elliot scored 15 points and John Harper had 13.

Trinity (6-2, 10-7) took a large step in closing the gap for a section title after 12 points from Joey Koroly and 11 points from Jaden Nelson. Zach Ecker also scored seven points and collected 14 rebounds for the Hillers.

Mt. Lebanon 55, Canon-McMillan 44: After falling behind early, Carson Miller tried to lead a Canon-McMillan comeback with 15 points in the second and third quarter; however, Mt. Lebanon outscored the Big Macs 16-6 in the fourth quarter to earn a 55-44 victory in a first-place game in Class 6-A Section 2 at Mt. Lebanon High School.

Taking only a one-point lead into the final eight minutes, Mt. Lebanon (6-1, 10-7) converted on 11 of 15 free throws to distance itself from the rest of the section.

Pacing the Blue Devils was 15 points from Michael Palmer. Antonio Garofoli scored 13 points and Mark Lamendola had 11 points for Mt. Lebanon, which earned it a regular season sweep of the Big Macs.

The only player for C-M (5-3, 12-5) to score in double figures was Miller with 18 points. Britton Beachy also had nine points for the Big Macs.

Peters Township 71, Connellsville 69: Trailing by 10 points to start the fourth quarter, Peters Township began chipping away at the Connellsville lead to eventually earn a 71-69 overtime victory in Class 6-A Section 2 action.

Trailing by two points with nine seconds left in regulation, PT’s Michael Cortese took a missed Connellsville free throw the length of the court to tie the game, 65-65, with a basket with 2.9 seconds remaining.

Cortese followed that up by connecting on four free throws in overtime to give PT the victory. He finished with 17 points.

Dax Ploskina, Conor Pederson and Matt Thelk each scored double-digits for the Indians with 13, 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Connellsville (2-6, 7-9) was paced by a game-high 25 points from Josh Maher.

McGuffey 60, Uniontown 51: For the third time in school history, McGuffey clinched a playoff spot after defeating Uniontown 60-51 in a Section 3-AAAA contest.

McGuffey (8-1, 15-2) built an eight-point lead going into halftime after only surrendering 16 points in the first 16 minutes.

The Highlanders relied on Colin Chapman and Trent Belleville, who scored a combined 45 points. Chapman finished with 28 points and eight rebounds while Belleville tallied 17 points and eight rebounds.

Uniontown (3-6, 6-8) was paced by Cameron Fitzgerald’s 14 points. Lorenzo Oden also scored 11 points.

Chartiers-Houston 80, Carmichaels 39: Chartiers-Houston scored more than 20 points in three of four quarters as it defeated Carmichaels 80-39 in a Section 2-AA game.

Leading a balanced attack for C-H (7-0, 12-3), which featured five players scoring in double figures, was AJ Myers with 21 points. Cam Hanley scored 16 points, Zach Southern had 16 points, Andrew Clark had 15 points and Seth Dunn tallied 10 points.

Carmichaels (0-8, 6-10) was paced by 13 points from Jacob Lowry.

Washington 69, South Side Beaver 48: Matt Popeck led all scorers with 24 points as Washington defeated South Side Beaver, 69-48, in a Section 4-AAA game.

After climbing out to a 37-23 halftime lead, Washington (8-0, 13-3) kept its distance despite South Side Beaver’s Jake McDougal connecting on six three-pointers.

Isaiah Robinson and Jordan Swart also scored in double figures for the Prexies with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

South Side Beaver (2-6, 5-11) was paced by McDougal’s team-high 22 points. Logan Jones also scored 12 points.

Southmoreland 82, Beth-Center 27: After outscoring Beth-Center by 42 points in the first half, Southmoreland went on to cruise to an 82-27 victory over Bulldogs in a Class 4-AAA contest.

Southmoreland (14-2, 7-1) was led by do-it-all big man Brandon Stone who scored a game-high 30 points. Tommy Tisula also scored 19 points for the Scotties.

Beth-Center (4-10, 0-8) failed to reach double-digits in any of the four quarters; however, was led by JJ Green’s 10 points.

Burgettstown 56, Charleroi 55: Cole LaRocka scored on an offensive rebound, was fould and sank a free throw with .7 seconds to go to help Burgettstown upset Charleroi, 56-55, in a Section 4-AAA game.

LaRocka scored 13 points for the Blue Devils (3-5, 6-9), who trailed 45-39 heading into the final quarter.

Sam Miceli scored a game-high 23 points for the Cougars (4-3, 9-8), who were outscored, 17-10, in the fourth quarter.

Bentworth 65, Jefferson-Morgan 54: Three players scored in double figures to lead Bentworth to a 65-54 win over Jefferson-Morgan in a Section 2-AA game.

Ray Logan had 19 points, Levi Jordan 17 and Steven Harner 14 for the Bearcats (8-7, 4-4), who led 22-10 after one quarter.

Gage Clark scored 15 points and D.L. Garrett 14 for the Rockets (3-12, 1-7).

Monessen 90, Avella 29: Jaden Altomore scored 30 points to pace Monessen to a 90-29 victory over Avella in Section 2-A.

Lyndon Henderson added 21 points, Justice Rice 15 and Cory Fleming added 12 for the Greyhounds (9-5, 6-0).

Kevin Painter led Avella (1-5, 3-12) with 13 points.

West Greene 73, Geibel 52: Kolton Rush had career highs in points and rebounds to power West Greene to a 73-52 thumping of Geibel in a Section 2-A game.

Rush had 33 points and 13 rebounds for the Pioneers (4-2, 10-4), who went on an 18-0 run to end the half with a 39-31 lead.

Nathan Brudnock added 15 points and Craig Weaver had eight points and 13 rebounds. Zach McHenry scored 10.

Enzo Fetsko’s 17 points paced Geibel (2-4, 5-11).

Ringgold 40, West Mifflin 36: Ringgold went 6 of 6 from the free throw line for the only points in the fourth quarter but it saved a 40-36 win over West Mifflin in a Section 1 game in Class 5-A.

Anthony Pampena scored 13 points and Dakota Browning 10 for the Rams (4-4, 9-8).

West Mifflin fell to 1-6 and 3-13.

Keystone Oaks 96, Waynesburg 54: Vonte Mitchell scored 26 points to power Keystone Oaks to a 96-54 win over Waynesburg in a Section 3 game in Class 4-A.

Josh Snell scored 22 points for KO (2-7, 3-13).

Dartin McIntire had a game-high 27 points for the Raiders (0-9, 1-16). South Park 60, Belle Vernon 59: Joe Torris hit a buzzer-beater layup to assure South Park would down Belle Vernon, 60-59, in a Section 3 game in Class 4-A. .

Jamar Jacobs scored 18 points and Damon Smith added 16 for the Eagles (4-5, 9-11). Tommy Rodriguez had 22 points for the Leopards (7-2, 11-4).

Girls results

Mapletown 38, Waynesburg 25: Kayla Smith scored 16 points to help Mapletown defeat Waynesburg, 38-25, in a non-section game.

Hannah Dingle tossed in 10 points for the Maples (6-9), who outscored the Raiders 25-16 in the second half.

Claire Garber had seven points for Waynesburg (1-13).

Bentworth 49, Yough 34: Three players scored in double figures to push Bentworth to a 49-34 victory over Yough.

Jenna Vito and Christine Matson each scored 13 for the Bearcats, who led 24-16 at halftime. Grace Marchezak scored 11.

Belle Vernon 67, Laurel Highlands 42: Keira Boff scored 15 points to pace Belle Vernon to a 67-42 win over Laurel Highlands in anon section game. Taylor Kovatch added 11 and Caitlyn Szakal 10 for BV (9-7).